NEWPORT, R.I. –
More than 100 participants from U.S. and NATO commands participated in a U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa-sponsored and U.S. Naval War College (NWC)-hosted wargame focused on assessing the U.S. Maritime Concept of Operations (USMCO) for the European theater alongside NATO components, May 5-9.
Euro-Atlantic 2025 (EA-25) was the first in the Euro-Atlantic Force Employment Wargame series, which builds upon the Trans-Atlantic Maritime Command and Control Wargame (TAMC2) series conducted between 2021 and 2024. Over the span of five days, EA-25 participants explored the USMCO and the integration of the NATO operational plans of Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), based in Northwood, United Kingdom and Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) based in Lisbon, Portugal.
“The scale and complexity of the challenges we face in the Euro-Atlantic are too large for any one nation to overcome alone. That's why strong and determined Allies, working closely with the U.S. Navy, are essential," said Adm. Stuart B. Munsch, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa. "This Euro-Atlantic War Game is essential for sharpening our readiness, reducing uncertainties, and ensuring U.S. and NATO forces are fully aligned to achieve mission success. It's part of a crucial cycle of learning, where we rigorously test our concepts and incorporate feedback to continuously improve.”
EA-25 provided a critical opportunity to rigorously examine and improve maritime concepts of operation, ensuring readiness and lethality are prioritized in forward operations to defend the homeland. The exercise also focused on developing practical solutions for implementing effective operational-level command relationships and making sound force employment decisions during times of crisis and conflict.
Designed and facilitated by NWC’s Wargaming Department, EA-25 was a multi-faceted game in which players were divided into a blue cell representing U.S. forces, a purple cell representing NATO forces, and a red cell representing an informed and responsive adversary. Each turn generated operational orders, component command decisions and theater-level assessments that informed real-time analysis.
“Warfighting in the Euro-Atlantic theater demands integrated decision-making, effective and efficient coordination and unity of effort across U.S. and Allied commands,” said Lt. Col. Marc Blankenbicker, EA-25 game director and military professor in NWC’s Wargaming Department. “This game provided players the space to make operational-level force employment risk decisions, identify gaps and opportunities in our collective concepts and plans and engage with an independent adversary capable of providing feedback through their own decisions.”
Throughout the game, players leveraged their collective expertise, innovating new solutions and strengthening the Alliance to ensure the security of the Euro-Atlantic region. Together, they worked toward revealing unidentified gaps between U.S. and NATO maritime plans that pose uncertainties to gaining and maintaining advantages across multiple warfighting domains.
“While educational wargaming helps us mold our students into the strategic thinkers of the future, this kind of analytical wargaming is how NWC informs the warfighters of today,” said Rear Adm. Darryl Walker, president of NWC. “We design these games to help operational leaders synthesize their planning with lessons learned from current conflicts, identify potential blind spots and pursue opportunities for innovation in the face of complex challenges.”
Advancing command relationships in the Euro-Atlantic, EA-25 convened representatives from across 10 countries and multiple U.S. and NATO commands, including U.S. Naval Forces Europe; U.S. Marine Forces Europe; Allied Maritime Command; Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO; U.S. European Command and its components, and Allied Joint Forces Commands in Naples, Norfolk, and Brunssum.
At the conclusion of the game, players discussed their observations, implications, and recommendations from each command’s perspective. The game’s results will be analyzed over the next two months and included in a forthcoming game report delivered by NWC to NAVEUR/AF.
As a critical component of the Navy's Analytic Master Plan (AMP), NWC is designated as the Navy's pillar lead for wargaming, leading the Navy's wargaming efforts, integrating research across the naval wargaming enterprise and promoting the dissemination of findings within the naval analytic community. These efforts support Navy strategic priorities by investing in warfighter competency and readying fleet staffs to fight from the maritime operations center (MOC).
For more than 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.
Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility.